Thursday, July 20, 2006

Moron Mail

A correspondent to the Strib helpfully clarifies what constitutes a real news story versus what constitutes the press merely abetting in the slinging of mud:

In his July 19 column on Matt Entenza, Nick Coleman refers to this as "the year of the smear." This is rich irony.

While it is only unseemly for politicians to be throwing mud at each other, it is unconscionable that the Star Tribune stoked the fire by covering the accusations against candidates -- obviously being provided by their political opponents.

Maybe we should not expect better from our politicians, but we should expect better of our media.

RICH IRONY, ST. PAUL

So to elucidate, the following two items - which are the main two reasons giving rise to Entenza's withdrawal from the race - are merely "stoking the fire" rather than "reporting the news":

1) Entenza's hiring of an investigation firm to dig up dirt on a fellow Democrat who's running for a completely different office.

2) Entenza's campaign being funded in part by his wife's income (and, possibly, stock options) from a company for which she is a high-ranking executive that's - oh by the way - being investigated by the very office for which Entenza had aspired.

A deeply conflicted sleazebag who is the DFL endorsee for the highest law enforcement office in the State? The voters don't need to know that!

The press should go back to reporting on the fuck ups of candidates' wayward children. That's real news!